Democrats To Force Vote To Repeal Trump’s Wall National Emergency

Schumer said on the Senate floor:

The president has very clearly attempted to usurp the power of the purse—given exclusively to Congress by the Constitution—by taking funding from projects we’ve approved and giving it to projects we have repeatedly declined to approve. This goes to our democracy. This goes to how the Founding Fathers set up that delicate balance. We have never had such a president overreach on an emergency basis.

The recourse for such a brazen power grab should be an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Congress to terminate the emergency declaration and re-assert our constitutional authority. Most of my colleagues know this is wrong. In fact, when we had a vote last time, 59 Senators, including a good number of Republicans, voted against the emergency. And you know what adds insult to injury? Who was the president stealing the money from? Our military. Projects that protect our nation, support military families, local economies, local schools. The Trump administration has proposed pilfering funds from projects in twenty-three states, three U.S. territories, and military installations in twenty countries, including $80 million from projects in North Carolina, $30 million in Arizona…even a middle school in Kentucky. How do we say to the men and women who risk their lives for us, and whose families sacrifice, that we’re taking their money away? That the president’s taking their money away, and we’re going to shrug our shoulders. Not this member. Not this Senator. Not, I believe, every Senator on our side. Not a whole bunch on their side, on the Republican side. We need some more people to join us. I hope we’ll see even a larger majority stand up for both the Constitution and the military and its military members and families.

Democrats and Republicans alike should vote to terminate the president’s national emergency declaration. And you can be sure, we will make sure that everyone will have a chance to do so within the next month. If we don’t do it, how many more emergencies will the president declare? Who else will he take money from and use it for purposes that he wants but that Congress doesn’t and the American people are largely opposed to?

Sen. Schumer was correct. In a normal functioning Senate, not one run by Mitch McConnell, repealing Trump’s illegal power grab would be a no brainer that members on both sides of the aisle would vote for. Any Senator who votes against this resolution is voting to weaken their own power in the Senate and strengthen the presidency. If Senate Republicans allow Trump precedent to stand, a future Democratic president could declare a national emergency on climate change or healthcare.

Republicans are undercutting their own power because they don’t have the guts to stand up to Trump and tell him no.

Democrats are going to make Republicans take responsibiliy for Trump’s theft of disaster and funds for military kids.

If Republicans support Trump’s bogus wall national emergency, they are sowing the seeds of their own demise.

Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor and Senior White House and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason spent four years as a political columnist and the politics editor at 411mania.com, where he covered such issues as the Iraq War, warrantless wiretapping, and the daily workings of the American legislative process. Jason has also written for the Blogger News Network and saw his 2008 presidential election coverage quoted in over 300 newspapers worldwide. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association